Iñigo Larrainzar

Iñigo Larrainzar
Personal information
Full name	Iñigo Larrainzar Santamaría
Date of birth	5 June 1971 (age 53)
Place of birth	Pamplona, Spain
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Right-back
Youth career
	Osasuna
Senior career*
Years	Team
1989–1990	Osasuna B
1990–1993	Osasuna
1993–2003	Athletic Bilbao
2003–2005	Córdoba
Total
International career
1990	Spain U20
1991	Spain U21
1991–1992	Spain U23
1994	Spain
1995–2000	Basque Country
2003	Navarre
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Iñigo Larrainzar Santamaría (born 5 June 1971) is a Spanish retired footballer who played mainly as a right-back.

Also a central defender on occasion, his older brother Domingo, often referred to as Larrainzar I, was also a footballer, and both played at Osasuna.^[1]^[2]

Club career

A product of hometown CA Osasuna's youth academy and reserve team, where he played alongside future Athletic Bilbao teammate José Mari, Pamplona-born Larrainzar made his first-team – and La Liga – debut on 21 March 1990 in a 1–0 away loss to Rayo Vallecano, and was definitely promoted to the main squad for the following season; aged 19, he was instrumental, as was brother Domingo, in helping the Navarrese side to finish fourth and qualify for the UEFA Cup.^[3]

In the summer of 1993, Athletic Bilbao paid 200 million pesetas to acquire Larrainzar's services, then the second-highest figure by the club, and he was an undisputed starter in the following campaigns.^[2] In 1997–98, alongside youth graduate Aitor Larrazábal who played on the opposite flank, he featured in 34 matches and scored two goals to help the Basques to a runner-up place, with direct qualification for the UEFA Champions League.

After some years battling for first-choice status with younger Jesús María Lacruz, who also represented Osasuna (although they did not coincide),^[4] and also dealing with injuries,^[5]^[6] Larraínzar moved south for Córdoba CF in the Segunda División,^[7] where he played a further two seasons. He retired at the age of 34, with 366 top-flight appearances to his credit.^[8]

International career

Larrainzar was capped once for Spain. On 19 January 1994, he played the entire 2–2 friendly against Portugal in Vigo.^[9]^[2]

References

^ César Azpilicueta supera a Iñigo Larrainzar al llegar a los 100 partidos con sólo 20 años y 9 meses de edad (César Azpilicueta passes Iñigo Larrainzar by reaching 100 games at only 20 years and 9 months) Archived 9 December 2012 at archive.today; Diario de Navarra, 6 April 2010 (in Spanish)
^ ^a ^b ^c Qué fue de… Iñigo Larrainzar: otro canterano osasunista en Bilbao (What happened to… Iñigo Larrainzar: another Osasuna youth player in Bilbao); 20 minutos, 10 July 2014 (in Spanish)
^ Aquella UEFA de hace 20 años (That UEFA from 20 years ago); Diario de Navarra, 4 October 2011 (in Spanish)
^ Doce defensas para nada (Twelve defenders for nothing); El País, 2 April 2002 (in Spanish)
^ Larrainzar conocerá mañána su lesión (Larrainzar will learn about his injury tomorrow); El País, 25 January 1999 (in Spanish)
^ Larrainzar: "Toshack pretendía tapar otros males" (Larrainzar: "Toshack was looking to cover up other wrongs"); Diario AS, 17 January 2002 (in Spanish)
^ Larrainzar: "No he venido aquí para cubrir expediente y pasar de largo" (Larrainzar: "I did not come here to sow my wild oats) Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine; Diario Córdoba, 11 February 2004 (in Spanish)
^ Jon Andoni Goikoetxea e Iñigo Larrainzar, leyendas a ambos lados de una Copa (Jon Andoni Goikoetxea and Iñigo Larrainzar, legends at both sides of a Cup); Diario de Navarra, 28 February 2023 (in Spanish)
^ España, de cal y arena (Spain, heads and tails); Mundo Deportivo, 20 January 1994 (in Spanish)

External links

Iñigo Larrainzar at BDFutbol
Iñigo Larrainzar at Athletic Bilbao
Iñigo Larrainzar at National-Football-Teams.com
Iñigo Larrainzar at EU-Football.info

[1] César Azpilicueta supera a Iñigo Larrainzar al llegar a los 100 partidos con sólo 20 años y 9 meses de edad (César Azpilicueta passes Iñigo Larrainzar by reaching 100 games at only 20 years and 9 months) Archived 9 December 2012 at archive.today; Diario de Navarra, 6 April 2010 (in Spanish)

[20M-2] Qué fue de… Iñigo Larrainzar: otro canterano osasunista en Bilbao (What happened to… Iñigo Larrainzar: another Osasuna youth player in Bilbao); 20 minutos, 10 July 2014 (in Spanish)

[3] Aquella UEFA de hace 20 años (That UEFA from 20 years ago); Diario de Navarra, 4 October 2011 (in Spanish)

[4] Doce defensas para nada (Twelve defenders for nothing); El País, 2 April 2002 (in Spanish)

[5] Larrainzar conocerá mañána su lesión (Larrainzar will learn about his injury tomorrow); El País, 25 January 1999 (in Spanish)

[6] Larrainzar: "Toshack pretendía tapar otros males" (Larrainzar: "Toshack was looking to cover up other wrongs"); Diario AS, 17 January 2002 (in Spanish)

[7] Larrainzar: "No he venido aquí para cubrir expediente y pasar de largo" (Larrainzar: "I did not come here to sow my wild oats) Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine; Diario Córdoba, 11 February 2004 (in Spanish)

[8] Jon Andoni Goikoetxea e Iñigo Larrainzar, leyendas a ambos lados de una Copa (Jon Andoni Goikoetxea and Iñigo Larrainzar, legends at both sides of a Cup); Diario de Navarra, 28 February 2023 (in Spanish)

[9] España, de cal y arena (Spain, heads and tails); Mundo Deportivo, 20 January 1994 (in Spanish)

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